Semiconductor devices or integrated circuits (ICs) can include millions of devices such as transistors. For instance, ultra-large scale integrated (ULSI) circuits can include complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) field effect transistors (FET). Despite the ability of conventional systems and processes to fabricate millions of devices on an IC, because of technical and market pressures, there is still a need to decrease the size of IC device features, and, thus, increase the number of devices on an IC.
One limitation to achieving further reductions in the size of the critical dimensions of IC devices is conventional photolithography. In photolithography, a design is transferred onto a surface or wafer by shining a light through a mask (or reticle) of the design onto a photosensitive material covering the surface. The light exposes the photo-sensitive material in the pattern of the mask. A chemical process etches away either the exposed material or the unexposed material, depending on the particular process that is being used. Another chemical process etches into the wafer wherever the photosensitive material was removed. The result is the design itself, either imprinted into the wafer where the surface has been etched away, or protruding slightly from the wafer as a result of the surrounding material having been etched away.
As the size of the devices to be created become similar in size or smaller than the wavelength of light used to illuminate the wafer, distortions occur whereby the pattern of objects formed on the wafer do not correspond to the pattern of objects defined by the mask. One objective criterion that defines how well an image is formed or an object is created is the edge placement error (EPE), which indicates how far an edge of an object on a wafer is shifted from its desired position on the wafer.
To remedy this problem, a mask correction technique known as optical proximity correction (“OPC”) has been developed. OPC is used to compensate or correct losses in pattern-transfer fidelity in image formation, chemical and physical interactions of photoresists and developers, loading variations in etching, and interactions of pattern features in one or more steps in pattern transfer. OPC can be configured to “predistort” or “pre-compensate” pattern data of the mask to improve fidelity of the pattern as transferred to the wafer. OPC may involve adding regions to and/or subtracting regions from a mask design at locations chosen to overcome the distorting effects of diffraction and scattering. Manual OPC has been in existence for many years. Using manual OPC, an engineer may need to add regions using trial and error techniques until the desired pattern on the wafer is obtained.
While manual OPC has been effective, as the dimensions of critical features shrink, it has become apparent that the manual approach is not time/cost effective. Therefore, a systematic way is needed to enable fast processing of large, complex chips. Generally speaking, there are currently two automated approaches to OPC: (1) rule-based OPC (use geometric rules to add corrections); and (2) model-based OPC (use lithography simulations to decide corrections). Rule-based OPC is an extension of the methods used for manual OPC. Through experiment or simulation, the corrections that should be applied in a given geometrical situation may be discovered. Then, a pattern recognition system may be used to apply the corrections wherever that geometrical situation occurs throughout the entire layout design. Model-based OPC is different from rule-based OPC in that simulation models are used to predict the wafer results and modify pattern edges on the mask to improve the simulated wafer image.
OPC involves the use of a preliminary mask pattern containing multiple line widths and pitches. The preliminary pattern is based on a desired device layout and has been corrected using a model-based OPC procedure. A mask is created from the preliminary pattern and a preliminary wafer is then formed using the mask. After the preliminary wafer has been fabricated, the actual line widths and pitches on the wafer are measured. Next, the actual line widths on the wafer are compared with the ideal line widths in the desired device layout to determine the error in the actual line widths. As previously mentioned, the error between the desired or ideal line width and the actual wafer linewidth is referred to as edge placement error (EPE). Finally, the measured error is used to calibrate the model so that the model will more correctly approximate actual line widths, thereby reducing the EPE
Despite calibration of the OPC model to improve its predictive abilities, inherent limitations and inaccuracies in the model itself prevent it from achieving a layout on the wafer that precisely matches the design layout. While improvements in the OPC model itself can reduce these limitations and inaccuracies, there remains a need to systematically identify and correct for the actual errors in the pattern to which the model's limitations and inaccuracies give rise.